Readers of Beloved don’t meet Stamp Paid till deeper into the novel, but I think the role of his character is critical to understanding the notion of freedom better in the novel. At the end of Part I and beginning of Part II a large dilemma for Stamp Paid is his inability to knock on the door of 124. He is torn between amending his regrets and guilt, and sticking to the conventions of the town.
Stamp Paid is the one who, in the slaughterhouse, initially includes Paul D. into the town’s silenced history and the reason Sethe and 124 have been outcast from the rest of the town. Morrison wrote, “Stamp looked into Paul D’s eyes and the sweet conviction in them almost made him wonder if it had happened at all, eighteen years ago...a pretty slavegirl had recognized a hat, and split to the woodshed to kill her children” (186). Stamp Paid’s confession about Sethe’s actions to Paul D. drastically alters his and Sethe’s relationship, to the point where Paul D. moves out of 124 because he can no longer see Sethe in the same way.
But, by Stamp Paid telling Paul D., and consequently the readers, Sethe’s story, she is never given a chance to explain herself, which Stamp Paid later realizes is unfair. He regrets his hasty actions: “Afterward -- not before -- he considered Sethe’s feeling in the matter. And it was the lateness of this consideration that made him feel so bad. Maybe he should have left it alone; maybe Sethe would have gotten around to telling him herself; maybe he was not the high-minded Soldier of Christ he thought he was, but an ordinary, plain meddler who had interrupted something going along just fine…” (200). Stamp Paid notes how he is in the pursuit of truth, because with truth comes freedom, and freedom is an ultimate truth for him. The two are completely intertwined, but by telling Paul D. Sethe’s truth, he is taking away her freedom. His regrets are based in the fact that he realizes it was Sethe’s story to tell, not his. Only she should get to make judgements on how she protected her and her children’s freedom.
I like how you brought up the introduction of Stamp Paid to the reader. He is first introduced as the person who takes Sethe across the Ohio River, and the reader thinks that this action is the sole purpose of his character. I was surprised when he turned out to be a pivotal character who drives the plot, by making Paul D leave, later in the story. It is interesting to examine his role regarding the themes of freedom and truth in the context of the introduction of his character to the reader.
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